Safety cigarette tray



1N VEN TOR.

BY BYRON T WALL Patented May 20, 1952 UNITED STATES-PATENT OFFICE SAFETY CIGARETTE TRAY Byron T. Wall, Flushing, N. Y. Application september 2s, 194s, serial No. 51,511

/ 6 Claims.

The present invention relates to a safety cigarette tray, and more particularly to a tray provided with a gure adapted to eject a burning cigarette from its rest into the tray when it burns to a predetermined position.

Smokers frequently place a burning cigar or cigarette on an ash tray in such a way that, as the burning continues, it becomes unbalanced and falls from the tray onto the supporting table, floor, rug, etc., doing considerable damage and in some cases causing disastrous res. An object of the present invention is to reduce the hazard present when a lighted cigarette or cigar is left burning on an ash tray. A further object is to provide a safety tray in the form of a novelty item having a ligure which automatically knocks the cigarette from a rest into the tray when burning has proceeded to a predetermined position on the rest. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description thereof, taken in conjunction with the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the novelty tray;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the tray showing details of the ejection mechanism, certain portions being omitted for clarity of illustration;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section through the support for the upper end of the golf club on a plane through the axis of the club.

Referring now to the drawing, numeral represents a cigarette tray having a flat surface 2, a heart-shaped bowl or ash compartment 3, and a rest 5 for a cigarette or cigar which is shown in the form of a channel or groove in the surface of the tray tangent to one of the lobes of the bowl 3 and directed toward the other lobe so that a cigarette may be laid in the rest with the burning end over the ash compartment. While the tray may be made of any suitable material, it is advantageously made of sheet metal, stamped and die formed to shape with a peripheral flange I surrounding the flat surface and forming a stand for the device.

A hole or depression 9 is formed in the channel 5 a short distance from the inner end thereof, and a coil I of bimetallic strip is mounted therein with the inner end secured to a post I3 which is fastened to the tray. In the embodiment illusn trated in the drawing, a tongue I formed from the metal originally in the hole 9 is bent down-- wardly a distance slightly greater than the width of the strip I9 and then inwardly to support the post I3 which is riveted thereto. The outer Vend of the bimetallic strip extends tangentially from the coil as an arm |I lying roughly parallel to the channel 5 and underlying the flat surface 2. At the end of arm |'I is a return bend |9 forming an eye or loop 2| for a purpose soon to be described.

The trayvis provided with a slot 23 traversing the channel 5 between the outerend thereof and the hole 9 and extending some distance away from the adjacent lobe of the bowl 3. The slot 23 lies above the eye 2| as best seen in Fig. 2.

Mounted on thesurface 2 is the figure of a man 25 in a stance simulating a golfer addressing the ball and whose hands appear to be gripping the end of a golf club 21. A bore 29 is drilled into the figure 25 to receive and serve as a sleeve bearing for the upper end 30 of the club which is bent at an appropriate angle to permit the club 2'I to oscillate angularly in the bore 29 with its lower end, on which a head 3| is formed, moving above slot 23. The head 3| is provided with a pin-like projection 33 fixed thereto which extends through the slot 23 and loosely into the eye or loop 2 I of arm II.

The operation of the device is as follows: When a cigarette is placed upon the rest 5 with the burning end overhanging the bowl 3 it remains in the same position until it has burned back to the part overlying the coil I0. -The heat from the burning end then causes the two metals of the bimetallc strip to expand at different rates and swing the arm I'I counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 2. The arm |I engages and forces projection 33 and head 3| of the club 2'I with it across slot 5, thereby pushing the cigarette from the rest into the bowl 3. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the end of club 2'I moves somewhat arcuately in a plane at right angles to the axis of rotation of the end 30 in the bore 29, that the end of arm Il moves somewhat arcuately in a horizontal plane, and that the slot 23 is straight as seen in plan (Fig. 2), although it could be curved if desired. The eye or loop 2| is made long enough to permit pin 33 to slide therein as required by the different paths of movement of these parts and the pin 33 is made long enough not to pull out of loop 2| due to its arcuate movement.

Preferably the slot 23 is provided with a dog or cam surface 35, as shown best in Fig. 2, behind which projection 33 normally is held by the resilience of club 21. This inhibits movement of 3 arm |'l and club 27 until the stress in the coil I0 has been built up to a desired level, then it lets loose by snap action. The club head 3| and/ or the pin 33 strikes and forcibly ejects the cigarette with a movement of club 2'| simulating a golf swing. After the cigarette is knocked into the tray, the coil cools off, thereby returning the arm to the original position, and in so doing the bend I9 engages pin 33, forcing it and the head 3| and club 21 also to return tothe original position. Thevclub 21, in oscillating about the pvot formed by end 30 in bore 29 moves the head 3| on an arc which may have its low point at any desired point along its path of movement relative to the surface 2 of the tray, it being necessary only to prevent the head 3|' from en'- gaging this surface and to make the pin 33 long enough not to pull out of eye 2|.

While I have illustrated my invention with a golfer as the ligure, it is within the scope of my invention to make the figure in any desired form, e. g. a hockey player, a woman with a broom, a tennis player, etc., the instrument being operated in each case by the same or similarmechanism. Other shapes and types of bimetallic units may be used, as those skilled in the art will readily understand. The shape of the tray and thebowl therein may also be varied widely without departing from the invention. Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

-1. A cigarette tray comprising anl ash compartmentanda fixed rest in the form of agroove having a length sufficient to support a. burning cigarette, a bimetallic element mounted adjacent to said rest and adapted to be influenced by the heat of a burning cigarette lying on said rest, and meansmounted forv movement transversely tothe axis of a cigarette on said rest, said means being operatively connected to said element for pushing the cigarette from said rest into said ashcompartment when the burning" end is near saidy element.

2. A cigarette tray comprising an ash compartment and a rest adapted to hold a cigarette withone end over said compartment, a bimeta'llic element underlying a portion of said rest adjacent to the compartment, a 'gure mounted on said tray, a lever pivoted to-said ligure, and means connecting said lever to said element adapted to swing the lever across said rest when a burning cigarette-on said rest heats said element'.

3. A cigarette tray having a bowl and a channelformed inits upper surface; said channel'having a hole near the bowl, a coil comprising'ofbimetallic strip' secured to said tray, below saidl hole at the inner end of said strip and having anarm extending away from saidl bowl'V along said chan'- 4 nel, said tray having a slot traversing said channel adjacent the free end of said arm, a support mounted on said tray, and a lever pivoted to said support at one end and having its other end extending through said slot into cooperative engagement with said end of said arm.

4. A cigarette tray as set forth in claim 3 in which means are provided forv inhibiting the movement of said arm until a predetermined stress is built up in said bimetallic strip by the heat of a cigarette burning in said rest.

5. A cigarette tray having an ash compartment and a fixed rest adapted to hold a lighted cigarette with the burning end over a part of said compartment, a support mounted on said tray, an ejector secured to said support for movement from a normal position away from a cigarette lying on said rest to an ej ecting position, said ejector in moving from its normal position to its ejecting position passing through space occupied by said cigarette and thereby being adaptedto displace the same from the rest into the ash compartment, and a heat responsive element mounted adjacent to said rest and having an operative connection with said' ejector whereby the heat from said burning end when it burns to a position near said element causes the heat responsive element to operate said ejector and displace the cigarette from the rest into the compartment.

6. A cigarette tray having an ash compartment and a iixed rest adapted to hold a lighted cigarette with the burning end over apart of saidv compartment, a support mounted on said tray, an ejector pivoted to said support for movement from a normal position at one side of the rest to an ejecting position across the rest, and a heat responsive element mounted adjacent to said rest and having an operative connection with saidejector whereby the heat from said burning end when it burns to a position near said element causes the heat responsive element to operate said ejector a-nd displace the cigarette from the rest into the compartment.

BYRON T. WALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D.120,91'4 Horther June 4, 1940 2,034,710 Carlsonl Mar. 24, 1936 55 2,203,745 Rodene June 111, 1940 2,229,953- Aures Jan. 28, 1'941 

